Wednesday, November 28, 2012

An exclusive online community where tastemakers and trendsetters (such as yourself) come to share the latest and greatest news, places, products, and reviews with each other. 2. The hotspot you just bookmarked on your web browser that turns your social influence into sweet rewards.

Basically, Influenster is a place for culture junkies to come together and share their unique opinions of products and experiences. Active members of Influenster get exclusive access to deals, promotions, and swag from brands that thrive off the input (the good, the bad, and the ugly -- they just want to know what's up).

So let's get on with the review!

ImPress Press-On Manicure: $5.99 for colors, $7.99 for patterns
I was really excited when I opened my box to find these! I've been wanting to try them out for awhile. They have a wide range of patterns and colors to choose from, this one is called 'Holla!' Instead of using nail glue, they have a sticky tab on the back. all you have to do is peel the plastic off the bask of each nail and press them on.

I've only had them on for about three days but they are holding up better than I expected. I did not file these nails down at all. My nails are still nubs, so I really like the length but those with longer nails, or who prefer longer nails, probably wouldn't. ImPress nails are meant to last a week, so I can do an update on them later, but even if they don't, I don't mind. So far they have lasted longer than any manicure on my real nails.

NYC New York Color Show Time Glitter Eyeliner Pencil: $2.49 per pencil

This eyeliner pencil looks nice. I don't have much to say about it really. It went on smooth, which was nice (I've had glitter eyeliner that has hurt me before because of the roughness of the glitter). I did find that after being on my eyes for awhile it transferred to above my lids. I don't wear any eyelid primer or anything so I don't know if that makes a difference, but my usual eyeliner doesn't do that. It's nice for the holidays though, and I didn't have glitter all over my face by the end of the day, so that's a plus!

Necco Tropical Wafers: $1.25 each, 424.00 per Box, $37.50 per Tub

Again, not much to say. I've never liked Necco wafers. I did try these and I still don't like them. To me, they taste like the tropical fruit Tums Smoothies.

Pentel EnerGel-X Campaign: $1.90 per Pen

I really like this pen! This might sound weird, but as a kid I always ran to the school supplies isle when we went shopping. I was always wanting to try out new pens and pencils. This writes really smoothly and has a nice grip on it.

Energy Sheets: $5.95 per pack of 10 sheets

My boyfriend instantly wanted to try these when he saw them, so I let him. The packaging is so strange; each strip comes in an individual metallic packet. It says it dissolves instantly on your tongue, which did not appear to be the case for Nick. It just kind of sat on his tongue all the while he was complaining about how terrible they tasted. As for energy, I can't really say. He didn't appear to be any more energetic than normal.

I know this is a little different from my usual posts but I hope you enjoyed this.

These products were sent to me for review. All of the above statements are my own honest opinions.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Hello everyone! I have some very exciting swatches to show today from the brand I Love Nail Polish. I love these, even the packaging, which I will talk about at the very end.

Matthew Peri is made of periwinkle, gunmetal, navy blue, and prism glitters in various sizes and shapes. I love this, and I imagine over white, it would look very wintery. I watch Friends on the regular, so I love the name of this. The formula was great, not too thick, not too think. In this photo, I have one layer of Matthew Peri over Julep Meryl.

So Ghoul is a Halloween polish with silver, black, purple and even a few yellow glitters. I don't have many polishes with yellow glitter so it's very unique to my collection. The formula is nice, not too thin, not too thick. In this photo, I'm wearing So Ghoul over Orly You're Blushing.

Bad Mogwai is a Gremlin inspired polish and a combination of black and green glitters. There are hexes, bars, and even squares. This polish was also made for the Halloween collection, but as you can see, it doesn't have to be just for Halloween. In this photo, I've layered it over OPI La Paz-itively Hot. The formula for this was also great. Even if I didn't love this polish, which I do, I'd love it just for the name. My pugs name is Gizmo, after the mogwai in the Gremlins movie. When he was still a puppy, we would say that at certain times of the day, he would turn into a gremlin himself. Now he just sleeps all the time :)

Now onto the packaging!

Each polish comes in its own box, with a die cut heat, showing off the labels on the bottles. The designer in me just swooned when I saw this, seriously. So in love! The handles are nice too, they kind of have a rubber/grippy feel too them so it's easy to open the polishes.

And the bottom of every bottle has a color coordinated label with the name of the polish.

I Love Nail Polish can be purchased on etsy for $10.00 a bottle. The Winter Collection looks absolutely stunning.

Friday, November 23, 2012

I really loved how Kelly chose individual elements from
this photo and placed them on each nail. My favorite aspect is how she painted the undersides of her nails pink to represent Beetlejuice's undershirt.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Kelara Lacquer is a fairly new indie brand to the nail polish world. These polishes are hand mixed and created by future husband and wife duo, Kellen and Tara. Tara was very kind and sent me two polishes to try out, Seaside and Butterfly Kisses.

Seaside has a blue base with turquoise holographic glitter. It's a bit darker than what I could capture, but not by much. The sparkle is gorgeous and so is the formula! I used two coats for the photo above.

Butterfly Kisses features a soft purple base color with pretty pink holographic butterfly glitter and tiny purple and turquoise holographic hex glitter. I was very surprised by how much I like this polish. It's more girly than I normally like but the purple shimmer is beautiful. I used one coat of Butterfly Kisses over China Glaze Concrete Catwalk.

Kelara Lacquers can be purchases on etsy for $9.00 a bottle and make sure to like them on facebook!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Today I have swatches from the indie brand Whimsical Ideas by Pam. I'm gonna go ahead and show you Seuss now, since these photos were taken pre nail breakage, and I'll post Georgia Peach Fuzz in a week or so.

Suess is a sky blue polished filled with various glitters. There are medium red hex glitters and both large and small silver hexes.

I really think Pam hits the nail on the head with this polish. I immediately think of Dr. Seuss when I see it. Seriously, all sorts of in love right here.

Formula on this was pretty good, I waited between coats to make sure I didn't brush the glitter off with each layer.

I do wish the smaller silver glitters were more noticeable. I've seen others swatches and there seem to be a lot more, but I still love this polish regardless. I used three coats for the photos above.

Any information on how to purchase Whimsical Ideas by Pam can be found on her facebook.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Hey everyone! School has been busy as of late and I don't really have much time to paint my nails, which sucks. I have asked Samantha from Just One More Bottle to do a guest post for me and ahh, I just love these nails! I think they're perfect for fall.

Here's the post:

I have done this look once before, in August because I was so excited for the coming season. I think the practice really helped with this out come. I started out using a shimmery brown as my base coat. I used Butter London Shag. Then I sponged on a layer of a flat cremé darker orange to give it some depth. I don't use any real rhythm to my sponging, just add it all over the nail. For every layer you add, just try to leave some of the previous color visible on the outer edges. Then I added a light brown over that. After I added brown I added a light shimmery yellow and switched back and forth between the yellow and a neon orange. You just have to play with the colors until you like the look. I like to have orange as my top layer. Then I painted the tree with a striper brush and stamped the leaves on the other nails using Bundle Monster Image plate BM11 with a Konad stamper.

So there you have it! Go check out her blog, Just One More Bottle, to see more of her awesome nail art!